Value of children in different generation groups: An indigenous psychology of Korean woman.

초록

The goal of this research is to examine the women's value of children in Korean transitional society. More specifically, the grandmothers and mothers perception of children are analyzed in order to explore the effect of transitional outcome and generational differences in valuing children. This study is a part of cross-cultural study of Value of Children Study (VOC) lead by G. Trommsdorff and B. Nauck. A total of 60 women participated in this study (e.g., N=30 mothers and N=30 grandmothers) and completed the revised VOC scale developed by Trommsdorff and Nauck (1999). The results indicate that the value of children is influenced by socio-demographic factors and psychological-social factors. Moreover, there is a generation gap in which the grandmothers possess conservative values of children as compared to the mother’s generation. However, both grandmothers and mothers indicate that parental sacrifice and strong emotional bond to their children are important factors in child rearing. Therefore, Korean parents still possess a strong relationship with their children even though the society has changed from agricultural society to informational society.